MaKshya Tolbert (he/she/they)
Charlottesville, Virginia
MaKshya Tolbert (he/she/they) is a Black queer writer, grower, and cook moved by Black memory and ecological possibility. Her practices consist of making things with food, clay, and people.
Before becoming a Co-Steward, Tolbert served on the board since 2021. They are completing a residency at Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects and the Art in Library Spaces Artist-in-Residences at the University of Virginia Library. Tolbert served as the 2024-25 Chair of the Charlottesville Tree Commission and as Guest Curator for the 2024 New City Arts Fellowship. A graduate of the University of Virginia's Creative Writing MFA, he is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and fellowships from Community of Writers, Tin House, and Roots. Wounds. Words. Inc.
A National Poetry Series winner, Tolbert’s lyrical debut Shade is a place, published by Penguin Books (2025), explores social and arboreal relief amid entanglements of place, property, and urban planning in Charlottesville, Virginia.